Did Gohan surpass Goku in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero? Explored
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero made a significant contribution to Gohan by giving him the Beast form, which made him stronger than he was until that point in the franchise. The Super manga showed him having a sparring fight with Ultra Instinct Goku, which has led to the community wondering if Gohan surpassed Goku.
It is a complicated thing to answer because a sparring match doesn't allow both characters to go all out. That being said, there is no denying that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has put Gohan in the franchise's upper echelons of power once again. Therefore, even if one is stronger than the other, the difference isn't even that great, especially regarding a character with Goku's mentality to train and get stronger.
Disclaimer: This article is mere speculation and contains spoilers for the series.
Explaining whether Gohan has surpassed Goku or not after the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
During the climax of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan managed to unleash his Beast form for the first time as he thought that Cell Max had killed Piccolo. It was a massive display of power as he destroyed the bio-android, and later on, in the manga, he had a sparring match in this form against his father Goku, who was using the Ultra Instinct form.
Based on what was shown in the manga, both characters were on a very similar level and there is evidence to suggest that Gohan has surpassed his father. This is nothing when considering that the character got stronger than Goku in both the Cell and Buu saga, meaning that he has the potential to do so once again with this new transformation.
However, as mentioned earlier, there is also the variable that this wasn't a battle to the death, which leads to both characters holding back. Goku has also shown to be a much more seasoned and intelligent fighter even when he is overpowered, which is something that could also give him an edge over his son.
More details about this
It is worth noting that in 2022, while promoting Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the author Akira Toriyama said that Gohan "can be the strongest." This is something that Beast seems to hint at. Furthermore, the character has always been heralded as someone with extreme potential, as evidenced when he was a child and managed to hurt Raditz in a fit of rage.
Therefore, when considering everything shown in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, there is an argument to be made that Gohan has surpassed Goku. However, the character's problem has never been the lack of peaks of strength but rather not having the dedication of his father and Vegeta to continue training. So the big question is how long is he going to remain the strongest.
Final thoughts
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero placed the question "Did Gohan surpass Goku?" once again on the table and recent evidence seems to suggest he did become stronger. However, the franchise needs to provide more content to fully confirm this, and Gohan needs to maintain that level of consistency in the coming arcs
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